mono-logged

I mentioned the other week I was working on a monologue to send to a Ten Four Theatre. So I did that.

The process was closer to adapting something rather than writing a brand new thing, in that I took a short story (of my own) and reworked it as a monologue. It was a new experience, given that I've never written for theatre before, let alone sent something out to be considered.

So I don't know if anything will come of it beyond this. But the adapting process was useful in giving a little new bit of life and a stronger voice to an old story, one that has been sent to various places and rejected - as many stories are - though I don't want to give up on this one. If it isn't right for the stage, I'll try it somewhere else as prose again. It's what we do, innit, write stuff, try to get it read. Or heard.

Speaking of stories being heard - howzabout this - I'm not sure if I'll enter it myself but it looks pretty neat. It's a competition for audio stories of 60 seconds and the 1st prize is 60 quid. It's from 4' 33" and their website is here. You don't even need to have special abilities to make audio files, you can skype it to them or even call and leave it on their answerphone.

Other places to send your work to - the prestigious and coveted BBC National Short Story Award has gone global for the Olympic year - it is now INTERnational. It closes on Feb 27th and does require a track record in publishing. Check the guidelines and see if you're eligible. Also, if you plan on entering, give yourself plenty of time to fill in the entry form and check, double check, all the rules as they're quite extensive. But worth all the diligence if you were to be placed in this competition - awesome exposure and a first prize of £15,000.

And the Grace Dieu Writers' Circle have competitions for both short stories and poems with 1st prizes of £500 in each category. The closing date is Feb 28th. *Note that this is a postal entry only competition* (darn it, my printer's broken)